Who will fill Obama’s Senate seat?

With the governor’s approval rating currently hovering at about 13 percent, the decision gives him a rare chance for a positive moment in the spotlight. But some observers caution that any choice he makes is likely to make numerous groups unhappy.

“In normal times, [Blagojevich] would pick somebody who can help him in a 2010 primary, but there isn’t anyone out there who can help him with what he needs,” says Paul Green, a political scientist at Roosevelt University in Chicago. “It’s a multiple-choice test with no right answer.... If he resurrected Mother Teresa, they’d say it’s a bad choice because she lacks experience.” Anyone he picks, adds Professor Green, will be compared with his predecessor, and “whomever he picks will not be Obama.”